8. HVAC in Space: Creating Extraterrestrial Indoor Environments

What would ventilation look like in space? 

As private companies race to space (22:00 and 25:15), researchers and engineers are working to create built environments in the final frontier (3:12).

To kick off ASHRAE Journal Podcast’s second season, John Constantinide, P.E., Member ASHRAE, and Hamidreza Najafi, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE, discuss how HVAC&R technologies used on Earth can be applied to extraterrestrial indoor environments (3:35) as well as opportunities ASHRAE has to help shape the built environment in space (3:50, 21:30 and 27:25).

The pair also talk about how the International Space Station is an example of a living environment in outer space (4:30) and how the station showcases the importance of HVAC&R technologies and indoor air quality (5:45). Then, they discuss the importance of designing HVAC&R systems that help people exist and survive in the harsh environments of space (5:20), among other topics such as design considerations, non-HVAC elements that affect the built environment and sustainability in space. 

Almost two years ago, Constantinide and Najafi co-authored an ASHRAE Journal article about (2:56) environmental controls in space. 

Download that article at ashrae.org/podcast/space.